AButtonGames Take – Dead on Arrival

Almost a month has passed since this sequel was released and I haven’t heard a single good thing. AButtonGames has yet to give it a go but we are reluctant to do so. It seems that the game suffers from some pretty heavy gameplay issues, over-simplified A.I. patterns, and terrible voice acting. This game is cringy and we haven’t even played it yet. If you are a die hard fan I would suggest that you wait for the best deal possible, rent it, or just forget it exists. We have determined that Fear Effect Sedna is Dead on Arrival – or as Game Informer would put it “Dead on Revival”.

Steam Description

“Thrilling action and stealth gameplay enhanced by the Fear system, an exciting story and ultra-stylish cutscenes. Harness your team’s dynamic abilities to tackle enemies and puzzles like never before. This is the quintessential sequel for existing fans and a perfect starting point for newcomers.

The Fear Effect: When your fear meter rises, you will be more susceptible to injury but will receive a boosted damage output and special abilities. Deny fear with stealth and strategy through the new isometric viewpoint and Tactical Pause feature.
Enter the spirit realm: Encounter mystical forces of the Inuit and supernatural creatures of the spirit realm. Will you dare to face the unexpected?
Cinematic cut scenes: Striking animated visuals bring life to a wild, engaging story and dynamic characters.
An array of weapons and character abilities: From silenced pistols and defensive turrets to flamethrowers and monstrous transformations!”
–http://store.steampowered.com

“It’s been 17 years since the last Fear Effect game came out, and thinking back, the one thing that always tends to come to mind about the series is the questionable marketing that surrounded the second game. Fear Effect was always touted as a more adult take on the Resident Evil formula, but the way in which Eidos – the publisher at the time – played up the romantic relationship between the two female protagonists, Hana and Rain, always felt sleazy, especially since the game – and any adverts for it – made sure there was plenty of digital cleavage on display.

With the arrival of Fear Effect Sedna – via a Kickstarter by French developer Sushee – it’s the perfect opportunity to overwrite these memories, as well as introduce Fear Effect’s signature mix of the supernatural and the cyberpunk to a new audience. The problem is that the game they want to do it with is not very good at all – but probably not in the ways you’d expect.”

“From the moment you hit the start button it becomes clear that Sushee knows its source. Sedna captures the look, feel, and atmosphere of the Fear Effect games perfectly. Presenting the player with environments that are at once opulent and sleazy, populated with individuals who have your back right up to the moment they stick a knife in it. Series fans will feel right at home as soon as they see Hana and her motley crew running through the murky shadows of the rain-soaked rooftops, twin-guns in hand.

Our protagonists get more than they bargained for when they are tasked with stealing an item of priceless art. What starts out as a straightforward smash-and-grab turns into a much darker affair, featuring ancient Inuit mythology and inter-dimensional activity. I’m starting to believe that these guys never go on capers that don’t end with them fighting hellspawn.

Unfortunately, the story isn’t particularly interesting or immersive. The biggest problem here lies in the game’s weak script and poor voice-acting. Our anti-heroes machine-gun through dialogue in a phoned-in manner, with plot points delivered in a style that sounds like the actors were not given any context for the current scene. Some moments of aggressive, high-drama are delivered flat and without gravitas. From scene one the voice-acting is a distraction and remains so throughout.”

“You encounter a handful of puzzles between gunfights. Most are a chore to navigate, some boil down to brute force trial-and-error, and others make no sense within the world’s fiction. For example, you have to diffuse a bomb by cutting the wires that match a series of numbers on posters in different rooms, but there is never any connection made between the posters and the bomb. Even worse, sometimes you don’t know if you don’t understand a puzzles logic or if you’re actually solving it correctly, because bugs prevent some puzzles from being solved. In one case, I had to restart an entire level because a puzzle wasn’t accepting the correct solution.

Fear Effect Sedna has a handful of other bugs that ruined my progress as well. At one point, a character got stuck in the stealth position and would only attack people with a knife. At another, the game just stopped saving my progress, which was a real problem since there is no manual save system.

Even diehard fans of the original Fear Effect should stay away from this mess of broken gameplay, system-breaking bugs, and slapdash narrative.”